Rim guard

ABSTRACT

A PLASTIC SNAP ON PROTECTOR FOR COVERING THE PROTRUDING MEMBERS OF REMOVABLE RIMS THAT SEAL DRUMS, BARRELS AND THE LIKE, TO GUARD AGAINST INJURY.

United States Patent Inventor Albin J. Mauer 43 Hilton St., ChicopeeFalls, Mass. 01020 Appl. No. 856,098 Filed Sept. 8, 1969 Patented June28, 1971 RIM GUARD 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

U.S.Cl.. l50/52R, 220/85K lnt. CL B65d 25/34 Field ofSearch ISO/52(R);

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 340,027 4/1886 Allen 220/85K2,460,364 2/1949 Roesler 220/85KX Primary ExaminerDonald F. NortonAtt0rneyLeonard S. Michelman ABSTRACT: A plastic snap on protector forcovering the protruding members of removable rims that seal drums,barrels and the like, to guard against injury.

PATENTED JUN28 |97l IN VENTUR- M RIM GUARD This invention is concernedwith a protector for covering 1 the protruding-ends of a locking typerim used to seal covers on barrels or drums. Particularly, thisinvention solves the problem of covering, in a removable way, theprotrusions of a removable rim on a drum or barrel.

It is an object of the within invention to provide an article ofmanufacture that is inexpensive in cost to cover the protrusions of arim that locks covers on drums or barrels.

Another object of the within invention is to provide a guard forprotrusions as aforesaid that is light in weight.

It is still a further object of the within invention to provide astreamlined shape-snap onguard to cover the protrusions on a locking rimfor barrels as aforesaid.

These and other objects are obtained by providing a segment of a circlemade of a plastic material wherein the interior concave surfaces conformto the dimensions of the protrusion and the upper edges thereof conformto the shape of the rim, creating a moldlike interior surface to conformto the area to be covered. In addition thereto, the plastic material isresilient and enables the device to be snapped around the rim at itsedges enabling that portion of the protrusions to be covered overaffording protection to persons against injury.

Reference is made to the following detailed description and,particularly to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a barrel or drum having a locking rimset in place at the top thereof.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an exploded portion of the drum and rimwith the guard of the within invention in place thereover.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the drum and rim locked into place with abolt with the guard shown in dotted lines located over the lockingmechanism of the rim.

FIG. 4 is a cross section view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3showing the guard as it is located over the locking mechanism of therim.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the guard in place over the rim.

IN FIG. 1, a drum or barrel 1 has connected to its top cover a removablelocking rim 3. The rim 3 has 2 extending members or protrusions 4.Located in these protrusions 4 are openings 9 adapted to receive thebolt and nut assembly 5. (See FIG. 3) It is apparent that theprotrusions 4 of the locking mechanism, which are necessary to lock thelid I0 on the drum, are by their design a potential cause of injury topeople who might come in contact with same.

The invention herein comprises a molded plastic guard. The guard has alower concave surface area 7, which conforms in contour to the verticalsurface to the drum I and is in a cross section a segment of a circle.The surface 7 extends outwardly to the surface 2. The surface areabetween 2 (as shown in FIG. 4) and 7 is diagonal. At position 2, thesurface is vertical. The locus of the surface continues upwardly andbends to the horizontal and then returns to the vertical and finally tothe horizontal at the flange 8. The dimensions of the protrusion surfacefrom 7 through 2 and back to 8 are predetermined in design toaccommodate the protrusions 4 of the rim 3. The surface on the inside ofthe area at 6 is adapted to surround the locking mechanism assembly at 4and 5. The edges 11 of the guard-are narrowed down so as to conform tothe contours of the rim 3 (See FIG. 2). The surfaces 2 bulge out fromthe edges in the manner previously described (See FIG. 5).

For operation, it is necessary to snap out the flange 8 with the fingerin order to have the guard device lockedinto place over the protrusions4. The user can take his finger pull out on flange 8 so that it is awayfrom the surface 7 by either holding his finger at the bottom of 7 or byplacing 7 against the barrel surface. As soon as the guard snaps intoplace, the user can remove his finger from the flange 8 and the guardbecomes a snug fit covering the potentially dangerous protrusions 4. Toremove the guard, the operator lifts up on flange 8, and pushes towardsurface 7, releasing the guard from the rim 3.

I claim:

1. A molded guard device to be placed over the protrusions of thelocking mechanism of a rim for sealing covers to barrels comprising alower surface having an inner concave surface for conforming to theperipheral surface of a barrel, an intermediate surface diagonallyextending upwardly and outwardly from the lower surface, a short outsidesubstantially vertical surface extending upwardly from said intermediatesurface, a substantially horizontal surface extending inwardly from saidshort outside vertical surface, a short inward concave vertical surfaceextending downwardly from said horizontal surface and a short horizontalsurfacefor extending over the rim at the bottom of said short concavevertical surface, the inner surface of the edges of the upper portion ofsaid guard being of a dimension to fit snugly about the aforesaid barrelrim.

2. A molded guard as described in claim I wherein the material formingsaid guard is resilient whereby the edges of said upper portion areadapted to frictionally engage said rim.

3. A molded guard as described in claim 2 wherein the lateral sides ofthe intermediate surface converge towards each other.

4. A molded guard as described in claim 2 wherein the edges of the saidlower surface, the said intermediate surface, the said outside verticalsurface, the said inside vertical surface, and the said short horizontalsurface are narrowed down from their respective surfaces to form an edgefor conforming to the contour of the outer edges of the said rim.

5. A molded guard as described in claim 1 wherein the lateral sides ofthe intermediate surface converge towards each other.

6. A molded guard as described in claim 5 wherein the edges of the saidlower surface, the said intermediate surface, the said outside verticalsurface, the said inside vertical surface, and the said short horizontalsurface are narrowed down from their respective surfaces to form an edgefor conforming to the contour of the outer edges of the said rim.

7. A molded guard as described in claim 1 wherein the edges of the saidlower surface, the said intermediate surface, the said outside verticalsurface, the said inside vertical surface, and the said short horizontalsurface are narrowed down from their respective surfaces to form an edgefor conforming to the contour of the outer edges of the said rim.

